What happens to Ted is almost exactly the same as the fate of Christopher Cousins' character in Terriers.

Actor/Role Confusion: The intense hatred for Skyler ended up spreading to her actress, with many people (particularly on Twitter) openly stating they would attack Anna Gunn if they met her in real life. An article by Gunn revealed she even received death threats by idiotic fans who couldn't separate her from her character.

"Jesus Christ, Marie" was not actually said word-for-word in the show for a fairly long time, but fans kept mistaking it for an actual quote. Averted in the final season when Hank finally said "Jesus Christ, Marie" verbatim.

"Yeah, science, bitch!" has gotten similar treatment due to its becoming a meme of its own, but the actual line was, "Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!" Presumably, the line was just suffixed with Jesse's immortalized love for the word "bitch".

Jonathan Banks was previously well known for costarring in the TV series Wiseguy in the 80s and had mostly done low-profile parts since. His role as Mike netted him an Emmy nomination and opened the door for a series of parts in high-profile movies, as well as a season-long guest arc on Community. His performance here led to him reprising Mike and getting promoted to secondary protagonist in Better Call Saul.

The Cast Showoff: Skinny Pete's actor Charles Baker is actually a very skilled pianist, which he demonstrates in one episode.

Breaking Bad might not show Albuquerque in the best light, but the place to pass through on the way to Santa Fe (and where Bugs Bunny keeps making a wrong turn) has reaped a substantial tourist benefit from the show's popularity. The Visitor's Bureau has a page dedicated to all the related tourist information. Albuquerque natives, for their part, enjoy the increased recognition (making about $1 million in tourist money per episode), but are dismayed that it comes with being automatically associated with the drug trade.

"The Candy Lady", the sweet-maker who produces the blue-dyed rock sugar that is used to represent Walt's product in the show is also making a mint selling bags of it, especially after Bryan Cranston gave some to David Letterman on his show.

Generally speaking, any song that was featured on the show got a rise in popularity. The biggest one is 'Baby Blue' by 'Badfinger,' used in the final scene of the final episode. After the show, online streaming of the song increased by 9000%.

Inverted at first with RJ Mitte who was 15 years old playing 16 year old Walt Jr. in Season 1. Eventually played straight as the series progressed due to the show taking place over the course of two years and airing over the course of five years.

Skinny Pete is in his late 20s in season 5b, while Charles Baker was in his early 40s.

Directed by Cast Member: As if being the best actor on TV wasn't enough, Bryan Cranston also directed the Season 2, 3 and 5B premieres.

Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: RJ Mitte (Walt Jr.) has mild cerebral palsy in real life. Walt Jr. was conceived from the start as having it, and Mitte had to learn to walk with crutches and speak less clearly to portray the level of affectation that the show's creator had in mind.

Dueling Shows: Vince Gilligan has said that if he'd known about Weeds (dark comedy about a middle-class suburban parent who gets into drug dealing to solve a financial crisis, tries to keep it a secret from her family and quickly gets out of her depth), he'd probably have given up trying to make a series with such a similar premise.

Dyeing for Your Art: Bryan Cranston lost some weight and shaved his head to play Walter. To portray Walt Jr., RJ Mitte quit taking physical therapy for his cerebral palsy so that it would regress enough to convincingly play the part of someone who needed crutches to walk and had slurred speech.

The scene where Walt finally shaves his head and goes to eat breakfast with Skyler and Walt Jr. Anna Gunn and RJ Mitte were seeing Bryan Cranston's shaved look for the first time, so their reactions are genuine.

The scene with Don Margolis freaking out over Jane's dead body caused John de Lancie to actually freak out mentally and think that one of his kids had died.

Related: according to his memoir, while filming the scene where Jane dies Bryan Cranston suddenly had a vivid image of his then-teenage daughter dying instead, leading to real tears in the take that was used. He was so distraught afterwards that Anna Gunn had to hug him for a while to calm him down. Cranston has said several times that it was the hardest scene he ever shot on the show.

Walt was initially supposed to murder Jane rather than letting her die; either by injecting a second dose of heroin or deliberately pushing her onto her back to make her choke to death. Executives (and most fans) believed that the change was for the better, as it was far too abrupt a change in character so early on.

The show was initially set in Riverside, California but the studio wanted it to be filmed in Albuquerque for tax reasons, so the writers just changed the setting to Albuquerque rather than have to do Reverse California Doubling. This ended up working fabulously for the show's narrative.

Expy: Starting from the second season of Game Of Thrones (and the second book of A Song Of Ice And Fire), the character Strong Belwas◊ was supposed to make an appearance. Strong Belwas, a towering, fat black man was supposed to make part of the retinue of Daenerys Targaryen. Based on the character's physical similarity to Huell◊ in Breaking Bad, the fans mused that Strong Belwas did not appear in Game Of Thrones because he is still stuck at the apartment.

Luis and Daniel Moncada (Honduran immigrants to the US) play the Salamanca cousins.

Benicio Fuentes is played by the English Carlo Rota.

Hector is Mexican, but Mark Margolis is an American Jew of European descent. In the flashback scenes where Margolis is speaking Spanish, it's pretty obvious he's not a native speaker.

Neither is Giancarlo Esposito. Gus's partner Max was played by American actor James Martínez, who, by contrast, has excellent Spanish and does quite a convincing Chilean accent (at least to non-Chileans).

Fatal Method Acting: Almost could have happened to Aaron Paul. During "A Handful of Nothing", he requested to say his lines at a different spot and the cast allowed it. As he stood in his new spot, the tarp of the RV was blown off by a gust of wind, causing the boulder holding it down to fall off and land on where Aaron previously stood just a few seconds ago.

I Am Not Spock: Skyler White is the role Anna Gunn is (at least in 2013) best known for. In fact, every single member of the main cast can easily claim their roles on the show as their best-known (except for maybe Jesse Plemons who might still be better known from Friday Night Lights).

The Cousins are almost robotic hitmen who kill without mercy or hesitation, even if their victims don't need to die. Vince Gilligan has described Daniel and Luis Moncada, the brothers who play them, as "a joy to be around".

Krazy-8 was originally scripted to die in the first episode of the series, but the crew so loved his actor, Maximino Arciniega, and so loved working with him that Krazy-8's story was extended for a couple more episodes, and Gus' "brother" in cooking meth was named after him.

Bryan Cranston is such a nice guy that when Betsy Brandt (Marie) had to say "Why don't you just kill yourself?" to his character in a scene, she physically hurt afterward and immediately had to hug him after they finished filming the scene.

Compare and contrast hitman/fixer Mike Ehrmantraut to Jonathan Banks, who asked to hold Bryan's hand and was on the verge of tears throughout his "motherfucking tough day" of shooting for "Say My Name."

Gustavo Fring is one of the most terrifying villains in television history. However, his actor, Giancarlo Esposito, is, by all accounts, an incredibly easy-going and sweet person.

A number of interviews with Vince Gilligan have said that he's remarkably affable and gentlemanly in person for the man who created such a dark and brutal world.

Uncle Jack Welker is the leader of a gang of Neo-Nazis, and one of the most despicable villains in the series. His actor, Michael Bowen, is a well-spoken Method actor and father of four.

Lydia is constantly tense from a fear of things collapsing around her and is willing to stab anyone in the back who could be a risk to her. Laura Fraser, on the other hand, is relatively soft-spoken and openly speaks in reverence of her co-stars. Her charming Scottish accent also helps to highlight the difference between her and the character.

Name's the Same: Walter White was the name of an ATC controller involved in the crash of Aeromexico Flight 498 when that plane collided with a Piper Cherokee in midair and subsequently crashed into a suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles. Probably coincidental, but eerie considering that the show's Walter White is also involved in exactly the same thing happening on the show, indirectly.

A real-life meth cook named Walter White was arrested in Tuscaloosa, Alabama after the show had already been running for a few seasons. While such an event normally would only have made the local news, the popularity of the show brought the amusing coincidence into the public eye. It's worth noting that the real-life 'Walt' was far more blue-collar and had a much smaller operation than the Walt in Breaking Bad.

In "Blood Money" they go into their long Star Trek discussion about whether the transporter teleports or copies its users and about Badger's fanfic about Spock and Chekov competing in a blueberry pie-eating contest.

In "Rabid Dog", an attempt to bug Badger's mom's house results in the listener hearing three straight hours of Badger talking about Babylon 5.

As noted above, Bryan Cranston was best known for his role as the archetypal Bumbling Dad Hal in Malcolm in the Middle before being cast as Walter White. The fact that Walt's personality and situation seem outwardly similar to Hal's at the beginning of the series makes his gradual slide into villainy all the more shocking.

Leonel and Marco Salamanca are played by real-life brothers Daniel and Luis Moncada.

Jessica Hecht, who plays Gretchen Schwartz, is married in real life to recurring Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul director Adam Bernstein.

"No Mas" has bit part characters played by Bryan Cranston's real life wife and daughter.

The Red Stapler: Similar to how Back to the Future turned the obscure and worthless DeLorean into one of the most iconic cars of its era, Breaking Bad has created a new wave of interest and enthusiasm for the Pontiac Aztek due to its association with the Walter White character; it has gone from being probably the biggest Butt-Monkey in the automotive world for its ugly design, to somewhat of a Cool Car, due to it being "Heisenberg's Ride".

An Aztek used in filming of the series, which was wrecked and completely undrivable, sold for $7,500 on eBay recently. Prior to Breaking Bad, it would have been a miracle to get that much money for a serviceable Aztek.

And of course we have what is most likely the most disturbing example of this trope:

Stephen Colbert: Is there actually blue crystal meth? Did you make that up or is there actually blue crystal meth out there? Vince Gilligan: There is now.

Since the show, there has also been an influx of ricin-related criminal cases.

The 2007 writers' strike meant only eight episodes could be shot for season 1, instead of 15 or 16. This resulted in numerous changes to the show; most notably, Jesse (who was originally scripted to die at the end of the season) was kept around.

The house used as Jesse's house was sold during season two, so they made do with a set of the kitchen for a couple episodes (with the RV blocking the view out the window) before Jesse's parents kick him out. In the next season, they were able to use it again and Jesse moves back in.

Krazy-8 was going to be killed in the pilot, but was kept around for two more episodes just because everyone loved working with his actor, Maximino Arciniega, so much. Arciniega's name was eventually used as that of Gus' partner in meth production.

Tuco Salamanca was originally slated to be the Big Bad of Season 2, but his actor, Raymond Cruz, decided that the part had become too exhausting for him and asked for Tuco to be killed off. Cruz' ongoing contract as a cast member on The Closer very likely contributed to his decision.

Reality Is Unrealistic: Many people complained that Gus' death scene, in which he walks out of Héctor's room and straightens his tie with half his face blown off before falling over dead, was over-the-top. In truth, bombing victims do often survive briefly, and sometimes do weird things like calmly walk around looking for their own severed limbs, before they bleed to death. The body can behave strangely when it's in shock.

Shown Their Work: The crew actually included several DEA chemists, who help shaped Hank's character and gave some pointers on meth lab operations.

Sleeper Hit: For the first five years of its run, Breaking Bad's ratings were mediocre at best, despite critical adoration from the beginning. Excellent word of mouth, in addition to social media and streaming through services such as Netflix, turned it into a massive hit just in time for its final eight episodes, ending with one of the most watched series finales in the history of cable television.

Star-Making Role: Aaron Paul went from a bit actor to being a three-time Emmy winner and one of the biggest stars on television with his portrayal of Jesse Pinkman.

While Bryan Cranston was already fairly recognizable for his appearances in Seinfeld and Malcolm in the Middle, his four-time Emmy winning role as Walter White made him all but a household name.

Giancarlo Esposito was at the time fairly well-known for his role in Do the Right Thing and his recurring part on Homicide Life In The Street. His role as Gus, however, brought him mainstream recognition.

Throw It In: In a late scene of "Ozymandias", Walt leaves his family and takes Holly with him. However, when Holly repeatedly says "mama", he realizes his family has no attachment to him anymore and returns Holly. This wasn't scripted; Walt was supposed to just stare at Holly before deciding that he had to return her. Luckily the mother of Holly's actress was standing nearby, prompting the girl to cry for "Mama" repeatedly. Bryan Cranston worked with it, creating a far more powerful scene.

Vindicated by Reruns/Viral Marketing: The show is being held as a huge example of the impact internet streaming can have on a show. While it became a massive critical success very quickly, it always struggled in the ratings until its last eight episodes. The show took five years to go from under a million to 2 million viewers, only to jump to 10 million and become an internet phenomenon by its final episode a year later, thanks to excellent word of mouth and Netflix, seeing the show go out in a blaze of glory, both critically and commercially.

Some higher-ups from various studios wanted the meth angle watered down to be laundering money so the show was more family-friendly. How's that for a What Could Have Been horror story?

Vince has described his early pitch meeting with producers at other channels. HBO wasn't interested (and rather rude apparently). TNT loved it but couldn't take it due to their family-friendly image (the two executives told him they'd be fired if they bought it). FX did initially buy it but let it go after hemming and hawing for awhile. AMC took it because they were desperate for mature drama shows to compliment Mad Men.

Raymond Cruz, the actor who played Tuco, asked to be written out of the show because he didn't feel comfortable playing such a violent character.

Vince Gilligan originally envisioned the show as being only four seasons long. It's possible that the actor playing Tuco deciding to leave earlier than expected made the writers have to build up to a new villain thus making the story longer than originally planned.

Hector Salamanca was originally planned as the villain for Season 3, and Gus Fring would never have existed if Tuco's actor hadn't resigned.

Walt was originally supposed to purposefully turn Jane on her back to ensure her death, as opposed to just letting her die but the studio and Bryan Cranston both disagreed with it.

Earlier versions of the scene had Walt kill her by injecting her with an extra dose of heroin.

While Bryan Cranston was always Vince Gilligan's first choice for the role of Walt (having been impressed with his performance in the Gilligan-scripted X-Files episode "Drive"), AMC initially offered the role to John Cusack and Matthew Broderick. It wasn't until they turned it down that Cranston finally got the part.

Breaking Bad was originally planned to be set in San Bernardino, California, but Albuquerque's incentives for filmmakers were such a big draw that the show relocated there. (In an interview, Vince Gilligan said the restrictions on camera shots necessary to pretend that New Mexico was California meant they simply moved the story to Albuquerque.)

Jesse was originally supposed to die in Season 1, and even after the writers' strike cut the season short, Jesse was originally going to be killed by Tuco "A No-Rough-Stuff Type of Deal", the Season 1 finale. No-Doze was killed off instead because Vince Gilligan realized how much potential Aaron Paul had for the role.

Jesse's character was originally named Marion Dupree, and Hank's last name was initially Weld.

Saul Goodman was originally going to be the one to clean up the scene of Jane's death. When Bob Odenkirk was unavailable, the character of Mike was created. Furthermore, the writers quickly realized that it didn't fit Saul's character for him to be the one cleaning up the scene.

The original first-season finale would have had Walt kidnap a man (possibly Jesse's killer) and slowly torture him over the course of several weeks, cutting off joints (a finger joint, a toe joint) and cauterizing them with a blowtorch, all the while having him tied to a shotgun that he could trigger at will to end the pain. The episode would have ended with Walt Jr. coming downstairs, at which point the tortured man would grab him and trigger the shotgun, killing them both. This was scrapped because turning Walt into a sadistic torturer would have sent him Jumping Off the Slippery Slope and destroyed the entire theme of the show.

Jesse was originally named Marion Dupree in the original pilot script and described as a "hip Shaggy from Scooby Doo." They try and mask some of his attractiveness with his shaggy and unkempt appearance and very loose fitting clothes but he still appears incredibly good looking, especially for a drug addict. Vince Gilligan was even hesitant at first to hire him because he found Aaron too attractive.

Walt was originally supposed to be 40 years old. At the insistence of AMC, who thought that was too young for Walt to have a mid-life crisis, he was aged up to 50 years old.

An interview with Dean Norris in 2013 suggests that Hank was more racist towards Gomez in the original pilot script, as in, there were even Middle-Eastern references.

That scene in the pilot where Walt eats lunch alone in a teacher's lounge. If it seems a bit out of place, it’s because it had to be condensed from the first version of the script. Originally, this scene was meant to introduce us to Margaret, another science teacher who has a semi-flirtatious relationship with Walt, but the character was written entirely out of the script by the time the final version was published. In the final version, it creates an image in our minds of Walt being lonely and isolated, deserving of sympathy. It’s important for this seed to be planted early, given the big event that Walt goes home to later in the episode.

Originally both cousins were going to be killed in the fight with Hank, but then Gilligan realized it would be terrible storytelling for them to die without ever laying eyes on Walt, so one of them survived to do it.

Vince Gilligan provided an explanation (during ComicCon 2013) as to what took place when Walter had Brock poisoned off screen.

Vince Gilligan: That’s an excellent question and my writers and I would always tell the stories to ourselves of the evil juice box man who somehow… Our best guess is… I can tell you that the way we worked it out in our timeline he had just enough time to do it but it would have been very tricky indeed and it was improbable perhaps but not impossible. That he could have got in over once he got that idea you know spinning the pistol by the pool and waiting to die essentially, looking at that lily of the valley, contemplating the idea at that point… Uh I think at that point what he did is he kind of crushed some of the stuff up, put it in a juice box or something and then somehow snuck into, being a guy who’s a teacher, he knows his way around a school, probably got into Brock’s nursery school and swapped it out. This is kind of the inner story for how it happened for the writers and I, but it would have been tricky timing. He was a very motivated individual at that point; he had to save his family, that’s my best guess on how it actually happened.

Gilligan has also revealed what happened to Jesse after he was saved from being a slave to the Nazis. He managed to get clean and start a wood shop. Since Vince Gilligan is a major believer of karma, he seems to think that Jesse needed this after all he went through over the course of two years.

Walt saving Jesse in "Felina." It's confirmed that Walt was planning to kill Jesse but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: Every season with the exception of the second, which Vince Gilligan has said was very stressful. Notably, the Cold Open of "Live Free Or Die" was written without them knowing what the M60 would be used for.

"Face Off" feels a lot like a Series Fauxnalewith the deaths of Gus and Hector, and the ambiguity of whether Walt will stay in the meth trade because the writers were unsure of whether or not they were going to be renewed for another season.

The lead-up to the grand finale was only possible because the writer received a letter from a dying fan asking if Gretchen and Elliot would be coming back. Prior to this the writers had no idea how to get Walt from being in hiding to the final showdown, and had completely forgotten about the Grey Matter arc. If not for that letter things would have played out very differently.

Especially noticeable in the finale is Walt taking off the watch Jesse gave him and leaving it behind for literally no reason except that he hadn't been wearing it in the season premiere's flashforwards.

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